"Twirl in, twirl out, twirl in, now cha cha," Maybelle instructed.Tracy giggled as Link tried to steal a kiss from her on the "twirl in's"
"You're so bad," she mouthed as they went into the next step. His eyes twinkeld at her with a mischevious gleam. It was hard for her to turn her attention back to the steps when he looked like that. The only thing that could take her attention away from him was Penny, standing in the wings, as she was right now. Seaweed was comforting her.
"It's okay, baby. We'll figure something out," Seaweed assured her as he held her.
"She's just so stubborn, and wrong."Penny cried.
Seaweed just held her tight. Carressing her hair, kissing the top of her head, rubbing her back like his mom had done to him trying to comfort him when he was younger. Taking both her hands in his, he tenderly wiped a tear off her cheek, and kissed her. She returned the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her enveloping her in a passionate embrace. He felt a slap upside the back of his head. Reluctantly he broke away.
"What was that for?" he asked Inez who had delivered the blow. She pointed toward Maybelle who was giving him the look, and the council members that were being distracted. He couldn't help but laugh as Penny buried her head in his shoulder. Once the other council members had returned to business as usual with their rehearsal, Seaweed discreetly took her further backstage to the empty dressing room.His heart was heavy. He did not want to have this conversation, but it was the way of the world they were in.
He sat down in a chair and sat her on his lap. Penny let herself just sink into him, enjoying the warm comfort of his embrace.
"I don't want to come between you and your mom babe. Maybe we need to cool it for awhile?"
"Cool it?" she yelped looking up at him.. She jumped off his lap, and fixed him with a glare he had never seen before. Her hands on her hips. All traces of the scared girl she had been moments before were gone.
"Baby," he jumped up from the chair grabbing her hand. "I don't want to break up, but your MOM is kicking you out. And my momma is too afraid of what would happen if you moved in to let you stay at my place, even though she loves you like another daughter."
"I don't want to break up with you. My mom can't control my life," she insisted.Seaweed wisely let the subject drop. Penny, however, cringed as the awful scene replayed in her mind.
Seaweed's science book ended up in Penny's bag the night before, and he came over to retireve it.
"Come on in," Penny said as she opened the door and greeted him with a kiss. "Let me grab your book," she said as she shut the door behind them.
"What's the rush my lady?" he asked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, putting his arms around her waist."Where's your mom?" he asked.
Penny smiled. "She's at a ladies commitee meeting. It'll be awhile before she gets home," she relaxed, pulling Seaweed closer to her. They kissed again, and again. Eventually they found themselves sitting on the floor. Finally it was Seaweed who made the call.
"Baby, I might lose control if we stay here too much longer. Grab my book and we can go for a walk or something."
"Maybe I want to stay here," she playfully suggested.
Seaweed reached out to tickle her. She shrieked with delight trying to fight him off. He landed on top of her and tickled her some more. A gasp from the doorway stopped them in their tracks.
"What is going on here?" Mrs. Pingleton demanded indignantly.
"Mom, it's not what it looks like," Penny pleaded, straightening her skirt that had risen to a dangerous level when they were playing.
"You're lucky I was here to break it up, you demon girl, and you," she fumed, her voice getting higher and louder with every syllable. "You are not to come within five feet of my daughter ever again- do you understand? Now you get out of here before I call the police," she threatened, screaming. She dragged Penny up the stairs and to her room.
"Mom, I love him. You're not going to stop me from seeing him," Penny asserted. "We were doing nothing wrong."
"Only becuase I came home in time," Trudy admonished as she took out the jump rope. "Pray for your salvation girl, becuase I don't know how much longer I can save you."
"You're not tying me up anymore," Penny asserted as she stepped away from Trudy.
"What did you tell me?" Trudy demanded, not believing her daughter had just talked back to her. It had to be the influence of that good for nothing that had her in his clutches.
"You're not tying me up anymore mom. I'm going to see who I want to see. I'm sorry that you can't see past the black and white, but I love Seaweed, and I'm not backing down on this."
Trudy was silent as she shut the door to Penny's room. Flabbergasted, Penny sat down on her bed. Her mom never let anything drop, especially anything having to do with her and Seaweed.
The next morning, Penny awoke to find boxes stacked at the foot of her bed. She looked at them suspiciously as she got dressed for school, and went into the kitchen to get her lunch. Trudy sat at the table, calmly drinking her coffee. Penny said nothing as she quickly assembled a sandwich, and added an apple from a bowl on the counter. As she placed her lunch in her bag, her mother cleared her throat.
"The boxes I stacked in your room are for you," she said. "I cannot have such evil in my home, therefore you are to choose. Either you drop that boyfriend of yours, or you can no longer live here. You have until the end of today to make your decision."
"Mother, can't we discuss this?" Penny asked, stunned by her mothers decision.
"That boy is all set to ruin you, and I can't stand by and accept the two of you, especially if those are his intentions," Trudy stated calmly.
Disgusted, Penny rolled her eyes and walked out, hoping that things would be different when she got home.